1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to retractable coverings for architectural openings or the like that include a pair of vertically oriented sheets horizontally spaced by a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally extending vanes. Oppositely directed vertical movement of the sheets causes the vanes to pivot about horizontal longitudinal axes between open and closed positions. In the open position, the vanes are horizontally disposed defining a gap therebetween permitting the passage of vision and light, and in a closed position, the vanes are substantially vertically oriented and overlap slightly to block the passage of vision and light there through. The coverings are retractable by lifting a bottom rail or lowering an intermediate causing the sheets of material and interconnected vanes to wrap around a horizontal roller. More specifically the present invention relates to a covering of the above-noted type wherein the top of the covering can be lowered or the bottom raised and the vanes opened or closed at any relative position of the bottom rail with respect to the top of the covering.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Coverings for architectural openings such as windows, doors, archways and the like, have taken numerous forms over many years. Early simple forms of such coverings amounted to fabric draped or otherwise suspended across an opening while in recent years more sophisticated coverings have been developed.
By way of example, venetian blinds have become a popular form of coverings for architectural openings wherein a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally extending slats are pivotally supported by cord ladders so that the slats can be pivoted or tilted about horizontal longitudinal axes to move the covering between open and closed positions or the slats can be gathered into a vertical stack adjacent the top of the architectural opening in a retracted condition of the covering.
More recently such venetian blinds have been designed so as to not only retract vertically by lifting a bottom rail toward the headrail of the covering but by also dropping a top rail toward the bottom rail and such coverings are commonly referred to as bottom-up/top-down coverings. As will be appreciated, in a bottom-up/top-down covering, the slats can be gathered adjacent to the top of the opening or the bottom of the opening and can further be tilted at intermediate locations to permit or prevent the passage of vision and light therethrough.
More modern coverings for architectural openings have been referred to as cellular coverings wherein a plurality of horizontally extending, vertically stacked cells can be extended across an opening or gathered adjacent an edge of the opening in a stacked condition with the cells collapsed adjacent to each other. One disadvantage with this type of cellular covering resides in the fact that when the covering is extended across an opening, vision and light are blocked.
To overcome the shortcomings in the afore-noted cellular-type coverings, a new version of a cellular covering includes a pair of parallel vertically disposed sheets of sheer-type fabric which are normally suspended in horizontally-spaced relationship and include a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally extending vanes, which may be flexible, extending therebetween. By moving the sheets in opposite vertical directions, the vanes can be moved between open and closed positions so that in an open position, the vanes are disposed substantially horizontally to permit the passage of vision and light therebetween, and in a closed position, are disposed substantially vertically and overlap to block the passage of vision and light. Of course, in the closed position, the sheets of sheer material are disposed closely adjacent to each other with only the vanes separating the sheets. This type of cellular shade is moved from an extended position, wherein it extends across the architectural opening, to a retracted position by rolling the two sheets with the vanes therebetween about a roller disposed in the headrail at the top of the opening. Of course, to extend the covering across the opening, the roller is simply rotated in the opposite direction and a weighted bottom rail pulls the sheet material with the vanes secured thereto downwardly by gravity. Such coverings to date have only been operable by drawing the bottom rail upwardly and rolling the fabric material, comprised of the sheets and vanes, about a roller within the head rail.
More versatility in cellular coverings of this latter type would be desirable and it is to that end that the present invention has been developed.
A cellular covering for architectural openings in accordance with the present invention includes a head rail, a bottom rail, and an intermediate or mid rail with a fabric structure secured to and extending between the intermediate rail and the bottom rail. The fabric structure includes front and rear sheet materials adapted to be suspended vertically and with a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally extending vanes interconnecting the two sheets. The vanes are preferably flexible, even though this is not a requirement, and are of a width and spacing such that when vertically oriented, will overlap each other. When horizontally oriented, the vanes define spaces therebetween through which light and vision can pass.
The bottom rail includes a roller about which the fabric material can be selectively wrapped or unwrapped. The bottom rail is suspended from the headrail by a first control system that is manually operated so that the bottom rail can be selectively raised toward the top rail and positioned at any location between its lowermost position, which it assumes when the covering is fully extended, and a retracted position adjacent the headrail when the covering is fully retracted. The roller in the bottom rail around which the fabric structure can be wrapped and unwrapped is spring biased. The bias is in a direction so as to encourage wrapping of the fabric structure about the roller when the fabric structure is fed into the bottom rail as when the bottom rail is raised or the intermediate rail is lowered. When the bottom rail is lowered or moved by gravity away from the headrail causing the fabric structure to unroll from the roller, the weight of the bottom roil is sufficient to allow the fabric to unwind from the roller against the bias of the spring in the roller.
The intermediate rail is also suspended from the headrail and is adapted to be manipulated by a second control system which allows the intermediate rail, to which the upper edge of the fabric structure is secured, to move upwardly or downwardly. When moving the intermediate rail downwardly from the head rail, the fabric structure is shifted downwardly away from the head rail and fed into the bottom rail where it is wrapped around the roller within the bottom rail due to the bias of the roller encouraging the fabric to be wrapped therearound. The intermediate rail can be positioned at any location between the head rail and the bottom rail so as to define a gap between the intermediate rail and the head rail where there would be no fabric material.
The intermediate rail can also be pivoted about a horizontal longitudinal axis by the second control system such that the front and rear sheets of material are shifted in a opposite vertical directions thereby causing the horizontal vanes to shift between an open substantially horizontal position, permitting the passage of vision and light therebetween, and a closed substantially vertical position, wherein the vanes overlap and block vision and light therethrough.
It will be appreciated that the covering of the present invention is a bottom-up/top-down covering with the bottom rail and intermediate rail being movably positionable anywhere in between their extreme lower and upper positions so that the fabric structure between the bottom rail and the intermediate rail can be extended to any desirable degree and positioned at any location across the opening.
Other aspects, features, and details of the present invention can be more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the drawings and from the appended claims.